What a Difference a Day Makes – In the Economy
It has been a crazy couple of weeks in the economy. Most of us are feeling the pinch. In fact, many of us have been feeling the pinch for some time. The recession the government kept denying is pretty undeniable now. So what does it mean for you?
-
- You might be among the millions of Americans whose retirement plans have lost a whopping 20% in the last 15 months (or even in the last two weeks!).
-
- You might be among the 50 million Americans who rely solely on Social Security to pay the bills with a mere 2.5% increase in the last year.
- You might be among the millions of Americans who face losing your home or who have already lost their homes.
The best advice anyone can give you right now is “sit tight” as much as possible. Government agencies and politicians are promising a lot right now that should help all of these losses in time. The economic rescue package promises help for distressed homeowners and forgiveness in credit reporting. If you don’t need to retire (for health reasons, etc.) try to sit tight in your job until things settle down and you see how things work out.
For everyone, it’s a time to cut back wherever we can until these new measures have a chance to do some good. And there is good news today – the Social Security Administration has just announced a 5.8% increase in January! But don’t get carried away with the increase. You’ll need to wait and see what happens with Medicare costs and how your other income sources adjust before you go on a spending spree.
What is needed now is sanity, patience, and a little cutting of corners. How are you cutting corners and making ends meet?